The Castle of Dr Killenstein!
by somekindafreaky
Summary: Kitty and Pyro are in a haunted house, in Transylvania, and what with a mad scientist, werewolves, vampires, evil spirits, they are not in for an easy ride! And worst of all, feelings are blooming! FINISHED
1. Wuh oh!

This is my third story, and hopefully it won't be _as_ stupid as it sounds. So many people said they liked Kyro when they reviewed my other story, Roadtrip, so I thought I might as well just write one. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Chere, it's Cold Outside, if they're reading this, but they're probably not… cause that was a Kimy… anyway, moving on.

*****

Kitty peered out of the dirty windows of her taxi cab, intrigued by how different this country was, awed by the beauty of the landscape and architecture, pitying and revolted by the state of some of the peasants. This was Translyvania – the country of Dracula, and so far it was fitting the part perfectly.

"Here," said the taxi driver, with his poor English pronunciation, "I won't take you any further."

Kitty looked confused. This was definitely NOT where she wanted to be. She couldn't see a castle anywhere. "Excuse me?" she asked. "Where is Dr. Killenstein's* home?"

He pointed ahead to the forest in front of them. "I won't take you any further," he said again.

"How far is it?" she asked, stepping out of the taxi and peering up the path that led into the shadows of the trees.

"A mile about," said the man, and as soon as she had handed him the money she owed, he was off back up the road to the village she had just left.

She looked, rather nervously, into the darkness. The trees were _very_ tall and very intimidating. Scattered across the horizon, and throughout the whole wood, there were mountains and hills, clouded by mist. It was just like the setting for one of Kurt's creepy gothic German horror movies (check out all those adjectives). She definitely did not want to enter, especially alone.

*God, WHY did I have to come alone?* Kitty thought grumpily to herself. Though she knew why. Xavier had been unable to spare anyone else. What with this sudden outbreak of anti-mutant campaigns and unanticipated battles with the Brotherhood and Acolytes, the X-Men were busier than ever. So why was she in Transylvania at all? It was because Xavier required the assistance of one Dr Killenstein – a prestigious Romanian scientist who was a leading expert on mutants. Apparently he had developed some sort of drug that could alter the X-gene in many ways. He was a very private person however, and demanded that only one or two of Xavier's representatives come and see him to present the case of why he ought to help them. He was also, judging by the villager's reactions to her when she said she was going to visit him, very feared by the locals. They had tried to persuade her, either in their own language or broken English, to not go near him, to go right back home, or even stay with them – but she had politely refused their advice and hospitality. She couldn't let the professor and her fellow X-Men down.

With that in mind, Kitty bent down and scooped up her suitcase, and she braced herself. She began to walk down the path.

She plumped herself down on a rock, filled with frustration and exhaustion. She was _so_ lost. There had been so many forks and turns in the path, she wasn't sure she was going the right way at all. She had definitely walked for more than a mile. Everywhere looked the same – eerie shadows, dark corners, misty willow-the-wisps pointing her in any and every direction, and being no help at all. 

She set down her bag and sighed heavily. She had had so little sleep on the plane, and had been busy all day trying to find someone to take her to Dr Killenstein's castle. Leaning her elbows on her knees, she put her head in her hands.

There was a scuffle from behind her. She turned, and reckoned for a moment she saw a flicker of movement, of shadow, through an opening in the trees. She sighed, exasperated. She was so not in the mood to play innocent victim in some slasher scene. It was probably just some animal anyway, she had heard various birds and squirrels during her trek. 

"Are there wolves in Transylvania?" she asked herself vaguely, in a quiet voice, turning back around and putting her head in her hands again.

"Maybe sheila, but they're the least of your worries right now."

*****

*Don't even ask. 

*****

Ooh, cliffhanger!! Hehe


	2. Where is that friggin' castle!

Oops. I forgot: disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution. But it's like, who's gonna think I do?!?! And it's not like Marvel are gonna come round checking every individual fic **just in case **someone forgot a goddamn disclaimer. Argh. Oh, I do own Dr Killenstein. So there.

Emerald Lionheart – hehe…yeah…sorry

Pix – taa luv

Kulerka – lol. Thanks

Freakish Muffin – love the name, thanks for the compliments

Queen of Hearts747 – never fear readers, I was able to bring Pyro back to life before Kitty noticed he was killed by a crazed fangirl!!!

Pyrosprite – here is the update! Your wish is my command!

Inuyasha0001 - ..yeah. I'm running out of decent responses

And in case you can't tell, I SUCK SO MUCH at writing Pyro's character. I mean, all he does in the show is laugh like a madman and make fire do stuff. How the hell am I supposed to know what he's like, apart from Australian and weird? So anyway, if he has a split personality or is totally OOC or whatever in this fic, I'm very sorry. I just sort of picked a random personality for him for this fic.

*****

Kitty's head shot up in alarm and she blinked rapidly at the sight in front of her. "Wha-" she started.

Standing a few feet away from her was Pyro – one of the Acolytes. Magneto's lackey. He wasn't wearing his costume, but his wild hair and voice were so easily recognised. He was also flicking open and shut a lighter absentmindedly.

Kitty stood up. She was cold, tired, irritated and scared. You wouldn't want to meet her on a dark night in this state. And she was definitely not about to get into a fight with this random idiot.

"Look, _you_," Kitty said in a very exasperated tone, "I am so not in the mood, alright? Not for your fire, or your crazy laughter, or your jokes, or your stupid hair, or anything, okay? So I'd appreciate it if you just leave me alone."

Pyro looked momentarily stunned, but he quickly regained his composure. "Someone's feisty, _Shadowcat_." 

"Leave me alone. I don't feel like getting into a fight. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just like to come and wander around in Transylvania whenever I feel the need to be at one with nature…" he sighed happily, gazing up at the dark sky through the treetops. "Nature… and vampire bats."

Kitty sighed heavily. "I'm guessing you like, are looking for the help of this Dr Killenstein guy," she said matter of factly. He nodded.

"Well I am too," she said, and started to carry on up the path while talking. He fell into step with her. "And we'll probably like, get into a fight over who should get his help and all that, and it would save us both a lot of trouble if we just had some kinda fight to the death right here, right now. But frankly Mr. Pyromaniac, I do not like to kill people."

He opened his mouth to speak, "And no, I'm not just saying that cause I think I'll lose. You remember my power right? I could just like, put my hand right inside of you and pull out your heart if I wanted to. I can phase through your fire. It's very easy phasing through gas cause like, the molecules are further apart. So you better not try anything."

He shut his mouth, but smiled at her. "Ooh, I like a woman with attitude!" and he prodded her in the side, causing her to start and make a squeaking sound.

She raised her hand angrily, threatening to slap him on the arm. He held up his hands defensively. "Beggin' your pardon Miss Shadowcat," he cried. It occurred to her that he didn't know her name. But then, she didn't know his either.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Why would I tell you that?" Pyro said.

"Well, seeing as we're headed to the same place," Kitty reasoned, "we'll probably end up knowing anyway."

"St. John," he said.

  
"Kitty."

"Meow."

"Precisely."

They continued to walk for another ten minutes or so, before Kitty said, "Hey, do you like, know where we're going?"

John paused, and contemplated, his hand on his chin. "……………….No."

Kitty groaned. She threw down her suitcase and flung herself to the floor in sheer tiredness. John knelt sympathetically beside her. "Aw c'mon Kitty. We'll find it eventually."

"Like, why do you care? If you get there before me you have a better chance of persuading Dr Stupid-guy-who-lives-in-an-invisible-castle of helping Magneto instead of the professor."

"But it's so much more fun having you to talk to sheila," he told her, pulling her up by the hand. He took her suitcase for her, and propelled her forwards with his hand on her back. She sighed and allowed him to force her into walking.

"We're not gonna find this place!" she whined.

"Oh I dunno, it can't be that far…"  
  
  
  
  
Three hours later, it was simply too dark for them to even think of going any further. John suggested they stop and camp out somewhere for the night. Kitty certainly didn't feel very safe by herself with this Acolyte, but, she reasoned, this huge Transylvanian forest at night probably wasn't a particularly safe place in general. In fact, she was probably safer than being on her own.

She was even more grateful when he made a small fire for them to keep warm beside. And he, unlike her, had brought a blanket (for some reason – she hadn't been planning on sleeping in any random cold forest when she had been packing, that was for sure).

She was nervous when he held the blanket open to let her climb in beside him. But it really was far too cold to just sleep in her clothes, not to mention how uncomfortable the floor was. So, biting her lip, she crawled in beside him and he tucked the blanket around and underneath her. She blushed as he leant over her, his face only centimetres from hers, but in the fiery glow combined with the darkness he didn't appear to see.

Kitty lay there for at least an hour longer, long after John had fallen asleep, and it was getting colder and colder. Eventually, deciding there was no other option, Kitty wriggled closer to his side, took one of his arms and wrapped it around her. She felt him squeeze her a bit in his sleep, and couldn't help but smile.

*****

Awwwwwwwwww


	3. HERE it is

Emerald Lionheart – for the same reason as Kitty I suppose – they've both been sent to try and persuade him to help their respective teams by giving them his new drug thingy. And you are awesome! For reviewing!!

Freakish Muffin – lol yes. Many mysteries

Punkfairy – I know!! So cliché!! I'm sorry. But well, I guess them being forced to spend the night together is just about as likely as Kitty and Pyro ever getting together! But I do appreciate constructive criticism, and I'm mature enough to handle it!! *wipes away tears* Knowing me, this story could get a lot more cliché, though not intentionally. The whole thing is kinda a parody of various vampire and Frankenstein films/books anyway, so it's not very realistic…

Valley-Gurl101 – I love your stories too!! YAY!

*****

"Kitty! Wake up!" Kitty mumbled something grumpily and turned over. "Kitty!"

She opened one eye blearily. "Mmmwha." She looked up to see John giving her quite a queer, amused look.

She forced herself to sit up. She was still in her clothes from last night and the day before – she would hardly change into her pyjamas in front of this guy – and she was sure she didn't look particularly good. She rubbed her back groaning. It was so uncomfortable sleeping on a forest floor! She struggled to disentangle herself from the array of blankets that surrounded her, and finally succeeded.

John packed the blankets back into his bag, and picked it up, as well as two of Kitty's. She had brought four. She smiled gratefully at him. *Acolytes are totally not as bad as they seem!!*

They walked for an hour or so, until it began to rain. They were both drenched within minutes. It was extremely heavy. "Please, can we stop?" she begged, tugging on John's sleeve desperately. "Find some shelter, until it like, stops??"

John didn't reply, but led her underneath the nearest large tree. It provided a decent shield but several raindrops still managed to creep through the branches and often large blobs of water would drip off of leaves above them and hit them right on top of the head. Kitty put down on of her suitcases and sat on it moodily. John pulled another one up beside her and sat.

They waited for another hour, roughly, and the rain was showing no signs of easing. Kitty was shivering violently, until John pulled out one of his spare jackets and handed it to her. She silently took it and wrapped it around herself, pulling the hood up too.

"Transylvania's cold," she grumbled, if for no reason other than to break the irritating silence.

"What did you expect?" John murmured.

"Listen to me complain. I guess you like, hate water, being as you control fire and everything…"

He shrugged. "In battle it sucks. But otherwise it's about as much as a downer for me as it is for everyone."

"Except farmers," said Kitty absently, for no real reason at all. He gave a wry smile. "Do you think we're close to his castle?" she asked after a moment. 

"Maybe sheila. Maybe."

"I bet he's really weird."

"Probably."

"Yeah the local villagers definitely seem to think so."

"You noticed that too?"

Kitty sighed. "I don't know why I agreed to this. I just wanted to get away from all the prejudice, you know? Back home, there are so many people who just want nothing to do with us, and everything…"

John nodded vaguely. "Are you starting to see it from Magneto's point of view yet?"

Kitty frowned at him a little. "I'm not ready to give up hope," she stated simply.

He smiled back, but didn't answer. He said instead, "I think we should carry on walking. We could be here all day waiting."

"Yeah, I suppose," she agreed reluctantly. She stood up and picked up two of her lightest bags. He took the others. They trudged out into the rain. 

"It's going to be a long day," John said.

It was a very long day. It never stopped raining. They never stopped walking. Until, that was, at three o' clock in the afternoon, after four hours of solid trekking, Kitty collapsed into the mud. Her legs had completely given way. John said nothing, he just set down the bags he was carrying and lifted Kitty up with ease. He held her against his left side, with only one arm, as if she weighed nothing more than a baby, and he lifted the five rather heavy bags up with his other hand. Kitty was exhausted and weak, but not so much that she couldn't marvel at how strong and sweet he was. She flopped against his shoulder and closed her eyes against the fierce cold and rain.

She reopened them, aware that she had dozed off, when she found herself being set onto the ground. The first thing she saw took her breath away – and terrified the life out of her. They were standing at the top of a very tall mountain. It must have been one of the ones that she had seen from the other side of the forest. She stared out across the beautiful landscape. Miles of forest, deep and dark, stretched away. She couldn't believe that she had walked – and been carried – all of that way. However the most mind-blowing thing was how high up they were. Kitty swayed slightly and felt John, who stood at the side of her, steady her with his hand on her arm. She turned to look at him dazedly, and saw behind him the steep, curving path he had evidently brought her up, which led all the way from the depths of the trees.

She turned, and saw something else quite impressive. It was the castle, and hopefully, the one they were looking for. It was perched, teetering, ridiculously, on the very edge of the cliff. Half of it was on solid rock, and the other was suspended over nothingness. Lots of it looked like it was built directly into the rock, all up the side of the mountain. She clung to John as slight vertigo overtook her again.

"Is this it?" she asked him.

"I hope so," he told her.

"It barely looks inhabited." There were no lights on in any of the windows. The whole place looked as though it was covered in a layer of dust and cobweb. It must have been hundreds and hundreds of years old.

John nodded, then stepped forward. She watched him lift the heavy stone knocker, which was shaped like a wolf's head, and slam it loudly against the wooden door. The sound echoed inside the castle. Kitty shivered.

They waited a minute or so. And then, just as they were going to give up hope that anyone lived in this castle at all, they heard someone approaching the door. The door was opened slowly, with a creaking sound. A face poked out.

Kitty tried to hide her flinch. It was the ugliest person she had ever seen! It was a man – supposedly – with dark, grizzled skin that hung off his features like it came in a size too big for his face. He had random sprouts of dark grey hair growing off his knobbly head. When he opened his mouth, she saw he had very few teeth.

"Are you the visitors Master's been expecting?" his voice was thickly accented and gurgled.

"Yes, St. John Allerdyce and Kitty Pryde, this is Dr Killenstein's home right?" John said. Kitty glanced at him. He didn't seem to be as horrified as he was.

The man nodded and opened the door to allow them to enter. Kitty gripped onto the back of John's shirt as she followed him in, as if scared of losing him.

She saw the man's full body as he went ahead of them. He was slightly hunch-backed, and wore old, colourless clothes. He was slightly shorter than she was. His walk was a bizarre cross between a shuffle and a lollop. It looked like he had a limp.

The hall of the castle was dark – very, very dark. Kitty could make out lanterns of fire stuck in the walls (what are those called again?!?!), which faintly illuminated the bare stone walls and flagstone floors. She spotted vaguely ahead a sweeping staircase, also made of stone but decorated with a thick, dusty carpet too, which ran up the middle.

The old man who had let them in had taken two of the bags, and John was carrying the other three. Kitty was too nervous to really do anything except hold onto John's arm.

"Master!" cried the man. "The visitors are here!"

After a few moments, a sliver of light appeared from one of the walls, where a door Kitty had previously failed to notice, opened. Another man emerged. Apparently Dr Killenstein.

He was tall, taller than Kitty at least, and almost as tall as John. He was also very thin. Unlike his servant, his skin seemed to be too tight on his face, and appeared stretched and pale. He had large, strange blue eyes, partly hidden by small round spectacles. He was bald, but for a line of fluffy white hair which encircled the back of his head. His nose was pointed and arched, his lips were thin, and his neck seemed too long. It also didn't look like he had enough of a chin. He was wearing a white lab coat, and as he removed his gloves as he walked towards them, she saw him wiping some dark liquid off his hands.

He extended his hand firstly to John, who took it and shook it. Then he took Kitty's hand, and bent to kiss it. His mouth felt very weird. 

"Good evening," he said politely. "Welcome." He had a very thick Transylvanian accent too, and put Kitty in mind of the old Dracula movies Kurt used to make her watch.

"Good evening," said John.

"Hello," said Kitty.

"I am Dr Killenstein," (what was I thinking when I made up that name?!?!) he told them. "Please, make yourself at home." He turned to his servant. "Please show these people to their room."

"Room?" Kitty piped up, to her own surprise. "The same one?"

"Yes," said their host. "I apologise. I know this is a large castle, but I only have one bedroom that you may use. I beg your pardon, but I must insist that you leave any rooms that are locked. They are not for your eyes. There is a tower set aside for you. I think you will find everything you need. The dining room, however, is located to your left…" they turned to look, "… and the sitting room to your right. Most other rooms are out of bounds to visitors. I hope you will respect my wishes. Dinner is at seven."

They both nodded dumbly, and followed the servant up the staircase.

The tower turned out to be very high up indeed. It was tall, wide, and circular shaped, much like a turret. They went up a spiral staircase, with doors randomly placed at each side. The old hunchback pointed out various rooms as they passed – these included their library, their personal sitting room, and their bathroom. At the very top, was their bedroom. Then the strange man left them.

Their room was very grand. It was almost a complete circle. There was a large, mahogany double bed, with heavy red velvet hangings and dusty red velvet bedclothes. The back of it was carved in a curve, to fit the wall it was backed against. There was also included a large fireplace, a grandfather clock which read six, and several large, dusty, red velvet armchairs. There were two windows, one at either side of the room, which were both thin and tall, and contained no glass. The floor, walls and ceiling were all cold grey stone, but there was a large circular red velvet rug in the very centre of the room.

Kitty sat on the bed, next to all the luggage.

"Do you think that guy's name is Igor?" John asked, sitting next to her, obviously in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Kitty gave him a small smile. "I know, this place is really creepy." She shivered and looked away. He put his arm around her companionably, and didn't say anything.

"Thank you for earlier… carrying me here and everything. You really shouldn't have."

He only smiled.

*****

Ta da. I'm done with that chapter. Hooray. Do you think I really should make that guy's name Igor? 


	4. In the night

Just me – that's right – a DOUBLE BED!! I mean they already slept together but… this is in a BED! That makes all the difference!!!!!! :D

Bitrona – heh… yeah I think Pyro is a bit _too_ sane. I'll let him be a bit crazier soon. And I know I TOTALLY overdid the strength thing. I was tired. And yeah, there's just ONE bed for TWO people who've only just met… but maybe Dr Killenstein is just kinky that way.

PunkFairy – I know! *Hides head in shame* he's too buff!!! 

Freakish Muffin – I'm glad you liked it, I get very paranoid sometimes. And yes, he certainly does have a lot to hide…

*****

Dinner wasn't exactly disastrous as such, but Kitty wasn't disappointed one bit when their host dismissed them back to their room.

They learnt several things during their meal:

That guy's name really was Igor. They both exchanged humorous glances when Dr Killenstein first addressed by his name, but the humour quickly diminished when they were brought their food. Dr Killenstein did NOT serve vegetarian meals. He just did NOT. He gave her a very weird look when she asked if he had any vegetables. She was hungry though, and she didn't want to appear rude and ungrateful, so she had to force down several mouthfuls of *some* weird kind of meat, covered in a vile red sauce.* Dr Killenstein didn't eat with his guests. He said that he preferred to dine by himself, at night. He just sort of stood there, looming eerily, watching them eat. It made Kitty very paranoid. 

It was now ten o' clock, and Kitty was showering in the bathroom while John got changed upstairs. She had been looking forward greatly to the chance to wash, after all she had spent two days and night in the same clothes, in the rain, in the woods. But it turned out that this castle didn't have running water, and it definitely wasn't heated.

Someone – probably Igor – had brought in a wooden pail filled with what looked and smelled suspiciously like dirty rainwater. She had to pour it over herself while standing in a large cold metal cauldron thing. She was very thankful that John had leant her his towel – she had been foolish to presume they were provided.

After the very chilling (in every sense of the word) shower, Kitty got dressed into her pyjamas. She wore a plain black tee shirt and light blue fleece pants, and she also pulled on some fluffy pink slipper socks. She pulled her wet hair up into a ponytail and made her way out onto the tiny platform that connected the door to the staircase.

As she climbed the stairs creaked ominously, and whenever she passed a window she couldn't help but glance out just in case _something_ was lurking there. It was a very creepy journey. She resisted the urge to airwalk very fast back up to her room. She had to be brave. She might encounter much more scary things later on.

She knocked on the door, then entered, to find John sitting in front of the fire. She hesitated slightly before she went over to him; he definitely looked like the Pyro she knew from battle.

He was staring maniacally at the flames leaping up in front of him. His eyes were alight with something dangerous.

"John?" she asked quietly. Her voice seemed to shock him out of his hypnotism. He gave a little jump, and the fire did too.

"Oh, g'day."

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed now, okay?"

He nodded. She crossed over to the bed and climbed in. She watched him curiously as he pulled a blanket over himself in the chair.

"What are you doing?"

He looked surprised. "Going to sleep."

She flushed pink. "You can come in the bed you know," she told him shyly.

He looked intensely at her face for a moment, then grinned and stood up. He came and climbed in beside her.

"Don't try anything though, 'kay?" she said sternly.

He took on a look of innocence. "I wouldn't dream of it."

As she settled down she heard him mutter, "Well, I would dream of it…I probably will tonight."

She blushed furiously.

It was midnight, and Kitty lay awake, staring at the drapes of the bed above her. She hadn't slept a wink all night. She shot a glance over at John, who was snoozing peacefully. He looked so… not a pyromaniac.

She looked over at the window. It was raining heavily. Somehow the windows were crafted so that no water could fall through the open holes.

There was a flash of lightning, and a crackle of thunder that followed shortly, almost causing Kitty to jump out of her skin. In the brief light in all of the blackness outside, she thought she saw something – hovering there…

She stared, quivering with fear. *It was totally my imagination* she told herself firmly, but yet she couldn't even bring herself to believe her own mind. Without really thinking, she prodded John in the side urgently.

He made a little mumbling noise and opened his eyes reluctantly. "Sheila?"

"John," she shook him desperately. "Please wake up."

He mumbled again and levered himself up onto his elbows. "I'm up. What's the problem?"

She blushed. It would sound so lame… "There was this thing at the window… can you go check?"

He looked at her in confusion for a second, then smiled slightly. He stood up and went over to the window. She trembled as she watched him lean out, worried at what he might find…

He withdrew his head after a few moments, and turned back to her. His orange hair was dark and floppy from the rain, and it trickled down his face as he spoke. "There was nothin' there. You must have dreamt it."

She watched him with wide eyes as he went around the bed and climbed in again. He looked at her, cocking his head a bit. "Don't worry yer pretty little head about anythin', just get some sleep." He tweaked her cheek as he said it, and then he turned over and went back to sleep. She looked at him blankly for a while, then closed her eyes uncertainly. She was so sure she had seen something… it must have been a nightmare.

*****

*Is it really red sauce? Or something more sinister? YOU JUST DON'T KNOW!!!!


	5. Kitty's in trouble!

Freakish Muffin – lol yes, Kitty was a bit ditzy. Anyway, thanks for your very nice review, a castle with internet definitely would suck, a lot!

*****

Kitty woke up with a start. Something had touched her bare shoulder, and when she opened her eyes she wished she hadn't. A deformed face looked down on her with a creepy crooked smile. She emitted a terrified squeak and phased through the pillow.

Once she had composed herself she came back out of the bed and apologised, red-faced, to Igor, who had brought them their breakfast. She didn't ask what it was, she didn't really want to know either. She shook John gently to wake him as the weird old man exited.

"What is it?" he mumbled.

"I don't know, but feel free to find out," she pushed the wooden tray with the two bowls towards him, wrinkling her nose. He cautiously dipped a finger in, raised it to his mouth and tasted it. She flinched at his expression. He shuddered.

"I say we burn it," he suggested brightly, "that is, if it can be destroyed."

Kitty smiled wryly. "This whole place gives me the creeps."

He nodded, moving over to the fireplace. The embers had died down during the night. He took his lighter from somewhere on his person, clicked it open and controlled the flames so that they swam through the air to land on the pile of logs in the hearth. Then he took the breakfast from Kitty and dipped their contents onto the fire. It took a while – it was very thick and seemed to be stuck to the bottom of the bowls.

Kitty apprehensively took a swig of water. It seemed fairly clean, even if it was gritty and barely liquid.

John told her he was going to find the doctor to ask when they could present their cases to him, and he left while she got dressed. She pulled on white jeans, a plain white top, and her warmest pink cardigan over it. She put on some simple black shoes and plumped herself down on the bed, wondering what to do until John got back.

A sound interrupted her thoughts. She turned her gaze uneasily to the window. It was the same place she had seen the dark shape last night. The noise was a muffled *swoosh* sort of thing. She stood up and unconsciously backed against the wall so that she could see the entire room. She swallowed.

It was still raining heavily. Outside, through the empty gap that was the window, all she could see was an expanse of dark grey and streaks of water falling. Every so often there was a tiny flash of lightning somewhere in the distance. Shaking with nervousness, Kitty approached the window.

She stuck her head through the narrow space. She felt the rain pounding the top of her head and her face was suddenly pinched with cold. She squinted through the stinging waterfall, above, below, to the left and the right. She could hardly even make out the grey stone of the castle walls stretching away, let alone anything else. She was about to withdraw her head, having found nothing, when she felt something push her hard. She toppled through the window, headed straight into the ravine below.

*****

I didn't plan for it to be a particularly short chapter, but then I realised I had the chance to put in a CLIFFHANGER!! Literally! R&R


	6. Pyro's POV

Pyrolova – here you go!!

Punkfairy – thanks, I will try and put in more of Pyro

Just me – yay! :) and yeah, you did tell me you love those three words lol

*****

John hadn't been able to find Dr Killenstein anywhere, however he had come across Igor while he was scrubbing the banisters on the grand staircase. The old man told him that Dr Killenstein was very busy right now, but he would send for the two when he was ready to talk to them. He didn't know when that might be, it could be a few days. Until then, he said, they probably ought to stay in their tower, except for dinner. He would bring them their other meals. John wasn't looking too forward to that.

He opened the door to their room, immediately searching with his eyes for Kitty. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. He crossed the room, puzzled.

"Help me! John??" he wasn't sure he had heard it… it came from the direction of the window, but the rain and thunder were so loud and violent they almost drowned out the little scared voice. He went to the window anyway, and looked out and down, and was caught very much by surprise.

Kitty was about two metres below him, shaking with fright and cold. She was being pelted by the rain, as she clung to what appeared to be some sort of gargoyle. She was hanging onto it by its ears, and her hands were slipping.

"John!!" she squealed.

"Kitty!" he stared down at her in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Just help me!"

"Can't you… sort of… what you called it… walk up through the air…?"

"I can't! I don't know what's going on! John!!!" she squeaked as her hands slipped a little further.

John was straining to hear her voice over the wild wind and downpour. He could just about see through the fog the expanse of nothingness below her. Their tower was on the west side of the castle, over the part that was built up the side of the cliff. There was nothing that stood between Kitty and the god-knows-how-far fall.

"Er…" he stretched his arm down through the window as far as he could, but it didn't come close to reaching her. She whimpered helplessly. Muttering, he climbed out of the window, holding onto the ledge with his right hand and lowering his left towards her. Finally he was able to grasp her wrist and hoist her up. There they were, clinging to the castle walls, suspended over a deep ravine. He was eventually able to pull both himself and Kitty back up to the window (he must be on steroids or something) and after climbing through himself he lifted Kitty up, holding her by the hips.

She collapsed against him, trembling and sobbing heavily. They were both sopping wet and shivering. He put his arms uncertainly around her.

"What were you doing?"

"I don't know!" she whined, "I'm sure something… pushed me."

"You were all alone in here right?"

"Yes."

"You must have just fallen… you probably imagined it."

She didn't say anything, only gripped the front of his shirt tightly in her little fists and buried her face in his shoulder. *I'm so sure I didn't…* she thought, but remained silent.

"I'm sure you said you could walk on air," John said slowly.

Kitty swallowed. "I can. I… could. I just, I must have panicked, I just couldn't do it! It was so weird! I was falling, then I managed to airwalk up back to that gargoyle, but it took so much out of me… I don't understand!"

He let go of her, causing her to mew softly in protest, and he went and sat on the bed. He peeled off his wet socks and then took off his shirt, which was drenched. Kitty watched him quietly. He tried to avoid looking at her, he was very aware of the wet, white shirt she was wearing and what it did for her figure. After a moment she picked up a change of clothes for herself and went out the door, to the bathroom, to change.

*That was crazy* John thought after she had left. *She's a bit of a screwed up kid.* He remembered how scared she had looked and it sent a shiver through him. She was a really sweet, pretty girl, but she was definitely a bit troubled in the head… nobody could possibly have pushed her. He wanted to be a bit angry at how careless she had been, she could easily have died, and he could have too, but he found that he wasn't angry at all. He had been so worried. He had never really cared about anyone or anything before. *It must be the Transylvanian air.*

Kitty returned after a while, wearing plain blue jeans and a small grey t-shirt. Her midriff was bare, but she had a different, dry, pink cardigan on for a bit of modesty, even though she had left it open.

He didn't look at her as she went round to the other side of the bed, behind him. She was in fact on the side he had slept on last night, and he was on hers. She knelt down. He sat with his back to her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "Thank you."

He shrugged. He couldn't actually remember the last time someone had thanked him for doing something nice, but it felt very odd and quite nice. She shuffled over on her hands and knees to be beside him. He still didn't look at her. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to.

"John?" she said hopefully.

He glanced up. She had wiped all the rain off of her face, but fresh tears were falling from her big blue eyes. She had dried her hair, and now it was down and slightly wavy.

They looked at each other for a little while. Then John said suddenly, "You're probably really cold. Get into bed."

She obeyed quietly, and he went over to the fireplace. He lit it, using his powers to guide the flames from his lighter to the hearth. It took somewhat more strain than usual… he didn't say anything or let it show. He remembered what Kitty had said about her powers freaking out, and he didn't want to worry her. 

Once it was lit and going strong, he watched it for a few moments (it gives him thrills) and then he went and lay down beside Kitty on the bed, with his hands behind his head and his knees propped up casually. Igor had told him they should stay in their tower. So he was stuck spending all his time with this girl he had just met, and was supposed to be his enemy, but he was feeling very attracted to. He could not deal with this. He stood up quickly and left.


	7. The library

Inuyasha0001 - …. ta da!

PunkFairy – heh, I'm pretty sure Kitty can walk on air, she could in the comics. And if you've seen Blind Alley, you'll have seen the bit where she phases up through the roof, and she must have sort of walked upwards to do that, unless she jumped off a chair or something… but I doubt it. Anyway, I'm glad you love me! I love you too cause you reviewed! But it's been like a whole ten-or-something days since I last updated… I don't deserve your love! *puts hand on heart and dies* And I'm glad you find it funny too

Just me – thanks lol, I have some ideas for the future as well.. but of course suggestions are always more than welcome. And Johnny won't be very mad, bless him

Freakish Muffin – I know they're two of my fave mutants :D and that thing you said with the food… so close! I'm obviously not being subtle enough

Shadowcat-Rules – wooo

*****

Kitty listened to him leave while she pretended to be sleeping. As soon as she heard the door shut she opened her eyes and sat up. Glancing over at each window, she trembled. She didn't feel safe in here at all. As quietly as possible, though she didn't know why she felt the need to sneak, she slipped out of bed.

She could hear that John was in the little living room below. The fire was crackling, and it hadn't been on before. She knew he might still be frustrated with her, so despite the overwhelming need she felt to be close to him, she went to the library instead. At least she would have something to occupy herself with that way.

The library was the largest room in the tower – while all of the others took up only one side of it, this one was the full size of the turret. It was circular, like the tower of course. The door opened in the middle, where there was a big stone pillar where the staircase wound.

There was no carpet in this room, and Kitty padded along, her bare feet cold. The whole place was a maze of tall, ceiling-high bookcases, filled with huge cracked old volumes. Every fifteen paces or so would be situated a little dusty velvet armchair, and the walls were lined with unlit torches.

Kitty selected a random book from a random shelf, and sat down deliberately where she couldn't see any windows. She could still hear the thunder and rain, but it wasn't quite as creepy.

Upon opening the book she discovered that it was written in some foreign language, and even with different letters, and it had been done by hand in black ink in spidery handwriting. She scanned the pages vaguely, but made do when she finally found some pictures.

They were very disturbing. Most of them were faded diagrams of human bodies, usually with some kind of opening through which organs could be seen. Kitty squirmed uncomfortably. It was evidently some sort of medical journal. Some drawings were of weird instruments, all sharp and pointy and complicated. She had never seen anything like it. It was disturbing.

A quiet sound broke Kitty's concentration. She snapped her head up and her eyes darted around nervously. It had sounded like a groan, or a creak.

*Old places like this will always creak* she told herself severely. *Don't get paranoid again…*

It occurred to her that last time she had been paranoid, it had been with very good reason; she had been pushed out of a window.

Shoving the book back onto the shelf, she stood up and made to leave quickly.

There was a noise behind her. She whipped around and was immediately in defensive stance. There was nothing there –

*Ohmygawd! There was _so_ a shadow there…* she stared at where she was sure she had seen a lurking black shape. It was gone now.

A gust of wind blew at her back, as if something had darted past. She spun around again, now cold with fear.

*I'm so out of here…!* she thought, and took a step forward.

There was no mistaking now. She felt two, alarmingly strong arms grip her painfully around the waist. She instinctively phased.

It was such an incredible effort; she almost fell to the floor, completely out of breath. But whatever it was behind her tried to grab her again, and in a frenzy she scrambled up and ran as fast as she could – which was fast – to the door.

She staggered up the steps to the living room. She was briefly aware that whatever was behind her wasn't following, the door hadn't opened behind her, but she carried on running all the same, even considering how exhausted she was. She flung open the door and relief swelled inside of her when she saw John, seated across the room in front of the fireplace.

He looked up at her, surprised.

She managed to somehow get all the way over to his chair before she collapsed onto the floor beside it, her chest heaving and tears pouring down her face.

John stared at her, apparently too surprised to speak. Then at last he was able to say, "Kitty! What happened?"

Kitty whimpered and clawed hysterically at his leg, trying to pull herself up. He reached down and picked her up by the waist.

She sat on his lap, her legs either side of his, and buried her face in his shoulder. He blinked uncertainly.

"What happened?" he asked again.

"I was…" she gasped as if for air, "in the library…"

"You shouldn't have left bed, I--"

She ignored him. "Something grabbed me," she choked out.

He looked at what he could see of her head in disbelief. "What was it? Who?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "But then I tried to phase and it really…. hurt."

He patted her back awkwardly. She was completely insane, he decided. He gently lifted her off of him and stood up, setting her back down in the chair, where she curled up in a foetal position. He then went over to the door, and opened it, peering out.

There was nothing there, except darkness.

"Were you imagining it?" he asked her, closing it again.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and scared. "No! Really!"

He shook his head, frowning, and went to sit in a different chair. He could see she was quivering. "I think you should go back to bed… you might be feverish. That would explain…"

"I wasn't imagining it!" she cried. She lifted up her top a little, and John stared at two red marks on her belly, where obviously someone had held her fiercely tight, and recently.

She lowered it again self-consciously. "You must think I'm crazy. But I'm not. I know it's real. And… and I was pushed out of that window."

John frowned again, and fiddled anxiously with his sleeve. She was so certain… but it was hard to believe her.

"Please," she mewed, "it was really scary… this place is so creepy!"

She looked like she was going to cry again. He put out his hand for her to take, and she took it gratefully. He meant to just hold it, and possibly rub it if the worst came to the worst and she did cry again, but she interpreted it as an invitation. She stood up and climbed into his chair with him. He was slightly confused so he didn't really think to object. The armchair was small and she ended up half on his lap.

She hadn't taken his gesture as an invitation, more an opportunity. *This is so wrong* she thought to herself as she burrowed into the crook of his arm, *he's an Acolyte… he's anything but safe!* But then why was it she felt most safe and secure when she was with him? It didn't make any sense.

John was nervous. He had never been close to anyone before, and as much as he'd like to get close to someone, especially someone like Kitty, something was telling him it wasn't a good idea. He was a pretty dangerous guy, and he led a dangerous life. Kitty did too, of course, but it was nothing like his. They were worlds apart.

As he had been thinking this Kitty had adjusted herself on top of him. She had straddled one of his legs, balancing on her knees, and was resting her head on his shoulder. Her breathing had eased and was quieter and more regular. He had put his arms around her waist, though he couldn't remember when or why.

He absently started to play with the end of her ponytail. She found it soothing, and soon she was drifting off to sleep again.

*****

How ironic. John thinks Kitty's crazy, whereas we all know he's the crazy one. Review!


	8. Yet more problems

Freakish Muffin – and there IS a reason…if I can only just think of one!

Just me – lol.

PunkFairy – I really didn't mean for him to be OOC, but then, I don't really know what his personality should be like, I'm just experimenting. I mean, they don't exactly explore his character in depth in the show, do they?

Crystle Kimionie – wow, what a cool name, and thank you for your review :)

Chris – AGH! Leave me alone! It sounds like _you_ have a crush on some of the characters, NOT me. And if you're so great, write your own damn stories.

*****

When John noticed Kitty had fallen asleep again, he carried her to their room. He put her on the bed and lingered there for a bit, not really sure what to do. He noticed that at some point Igor had come up and left them a tray, this time with some sort of meat that looked like wood, and some of the dirty water. He drank his, just because he was very, very thirsty, then went and explored the library. There was nothing remotely suspicious to be found. Then he went back up to the bedroom, and sat down, staring into the depths of the fire.

*That girl is… completely…* and then his thoughts drifted off, as he became completely engrossed in the flames.

Kitty woke up half an hour or so later. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked across at where John was sitting, watching the fire. She slipped out from under the covers and padded over to his chair.

"John?" she asked quietly. He didn't turn to her, or say anything.

"John? I want to speak to you."

He was staring hard into the fire, evidently concentrating. He looked like he was breaking into a sweat, which Kitty thought was weird. He was sitting very close to the fire, but it was still freezing cold.

"John!" she cried, anxious to talk to him. She was traumatised and shaken, and she could really use some company.

He turned to her now, but his eyes were bright and fiery. She took a step backwards. He looked just like he did in battle, but for the lack of his visor. He had the same wild and violent face. He wasn't like the guy she had got to know the past two days, he was _very_ scary.

"What?!" he snapped, "What do you want?!?!"

She stared at him, speechless and afraid. "Uh… nothing." Then she took off for the door and made a hasty exit.

John settled back into his chair, then proceeded to bury his head in his hands. What had made him have a go at her like that? He was frustrated. For the past twenty minutes or so he had been trying desperately to control the flames, but he hadn't been able to do it. If he really strained his mind he could make them jump or flicker a bit but it was difficult. It had got him very worked up and stressed out. He felt completely helpless without his ability, fire was his life. So when Kitty had started to badger him when he was _trying_ to concentrate it had really grated his nerves. So he had bitten her head off. And to think, he had been trying to show her his normal side!

He sighed and stood up, though it was quite an effort after all his hard work. He knew he had better find her and apologise.

Meanwhile, Kitty was pacing the living room, trying to figure out what she had done wrong. He had seemed fairly calm and collected for a pyromaniac before, but then he had suddenly gone and yelled at her. She hadn't realised he had been so absorbed in… the fireplace, or she wouldn't have bothered him.

She sat down heavily in one of the chairs, before it occurred to her that she was alone and vulnerable once again. She shifted nervously, peering around the back of her seat. There was nothing she could see, but then the only light came from the dying hearth and one lonely flickering candle.

Which, in a gust of wind, was blown out.

Kitty gasped.

*****

Poor Kitty just can't catch a break can she? Good news, I've actually figured out what's going to happen in the rest of the story!! No more beating around the bush. Review, you scallywags.


	9. What's going on!

John had checked the library, the bathroom, and all of the other various unnecessary rooms. He hadn't found Kitty yet. The only place left to search was the living room. He knocked quietly on the door. It wouldn't be very surprising if Kitty didn't want to see him, he could imagine she would be quite scared of him now.

There was no reply, so he eased the door open slowly. He was slightly surprised to see that the room had been plunged into darkness, whereas earlier there had been a candle and the fireplace too.

"Kitty?" he squinted into the darkness, before taking out his lighter and fumbling for a candle somewhere. Once he found one he lit it, and used it to scan the room for any signs of the girl. He was more than a little worried when he found it empty. *Where could she be?*

.:. 

Kitty opened her eyes, before immediately regretting it. Her head was achingly sore, and her vision was fuzzy and blurred. She put a hand to her face and rubbed it absent-mindedly. Where was she, and how did she get here?

Everything was dark. She was lying on a cold, hard floor. It felt like there was straw underneath her. She had no idea at all what was happening.

She groped for the wall, and found it. Using it as support, she dragged herself up and staggered a bit before gaining her balance. She felt like she had a hangover.

The only thing she could see was a window, two metres or so above her head. She could hear the rain, and a few rumbles of thunder.

Guiding herself with the wall, she walked around the room where she now was. It was about four by five metres, she guessed, before plopping down on the floor again and hugging her knees. What a day! She nearly fell to her death, got attacked by a very fierce shadow, and now she had been kidnapped and had no clue where she was. Hopefully at least she was still in the same castle, where John might rescue her.

John! He was her only hope, now that she couldn't phase. Well, she suppose she might be able to, just a fraction, but it would probably kill her and she could even materialise in the middle of the wall she was going through, which would be no good at all. In her brief exploration of the room she had discovered a door opposite her, but of course it was heavy, and locked. She fought the urge to cry.

She sat there for a few minutes more, not really doing anything, until there was a sound above her. She looked up quickly, and to her surprise, a trapdoor was being opened in the ceiling. It was a high room, by about ten metres. At the top, in the newly opened hole, she could see a familiar face, holding a candle.

"Igor!" she cried. "Igor, what's happening?"

He ignored her, and seemed to be reaching for something.

.:. 

John had left the tower now. He knew Igor had told him he shouldn't, but he was hardly going to care about that now, when Kitty was missing. He headed for the dining room, the only other place in the castle he knew.

  
.:. 

Igor produced a large metal bowl. Kitty stared up at him, frightened and confused. With some effort, he seemed to be trying to turn it on its side – in effect tipping its contents over Kitty. She shut her eyes, and waited for whatever was in there to hit her.

.:. 

The dining room was empty, but for the normal long table, old chairs, faded paintings and suits of armour. John left, feeling very frustrated now. He tried other doors he found along the way, but they were all securely locked.

Then a thought struck him – what if Kitty had fallen out of a window again? *Is she even alive?*

.:. 

Kitty squealed as a cold rush swept over her, before she gaped in disbelief at what she was now drenched in. Water? The very same dirty water she had been drinking and washing in since her arrival. It brought back unpleasant memories of her attempted shower/bath the previous night. She stood there, dripping wet and now chilled to the bone, before looking up at where Igor had been. The trapdoor was now closed, and all was black once again.

*****

Ooh! What could be going on?!?!


	10. This is what

Freakish Muffin – I agree with everything you said!

Valley-Gurl101 – he must! Who wouldn't envy our talent?

PunkFairy – wow, your review was really funny!!! Yay! I guess he must be schizophrenic, I mean he got really angry at Kitty really fast… And yes, I do love cliff-hangers!

Just me-the cool girl – I know, I hate people who have the names you wanted! Damn them to hell! And I'll try and make this chapter longer, somehow…

Valley-Gurl01 – more mystery here for your viewing pleasure!

Freakish Muffin – yes, chapter 10 will reveal all… and you're right!

SOMEONE2003 – yes, Dr. Killenstein is evil, and Chris won't know what hit him/her…! I think killing Chris with hamsters is just too cruel though. And yeah, Kitty is being a bit pathetic, but can you imagine how scary it would be?! She doesn't even have her powers any more. I'm sure John is only not freaking out because he's the weirdest thing in the castle as it is!

Takara, lady of Western Lands – kamikaze you say?!?!

PunkFairy – he will find her, I promise!

Officially*Obsessed*With*Pyro – yes dear.

Officially*Obsessed*With*Pyro - *backs away slowly*

Officially*Obsessed*With*Pyro – I know, I don't know why I'm being so hard on her!

Officially*Obsessed*With*Pyro – lol. 

Thank you for all your lovely reviews! Hooray.

*****

Kitty scowled. Wasn't the damn place cold enough already without her being soaking wet with ice-cold water? Dr Killenstein – if that was who was behind it all – was really grinding her nerves! She hoped, a lot, that John would find her soon.

The door creaked open, and Kitty looked hopefully up. Her heart fell, plummeted even, when a familiar but wholly unwelcome visitor appeared.

He had a very creepy smile on his face, and Kitty unconsciously scuttled backwards against the wall.

"Miss Pryde!" her host grinned to show a mouth full of slightly pointed (or was she imagining it?) yellow teeth.

"Doctor," she nodded uncertainly in greeting. 

"How are you this evening?"

Kitty seethed at him, and all her indignation at being drenched with water and locked up in this stupid room bubbled over. "Are you crazy?" she demanded, her voice higher than she would have liked it, "You have to tell me what's going on, or… or…!" Kitty may not have had her powers, and she may still be weak from all the goings on of the past few days, but she was fairly confident she could take down an old man, and, if necessary, a small, hump-backed creature.

"Or what?" the doctor narrowed his eyes dangerously and she dropped her fists. She didn't know whether she was hallucinating or dreaming, but she fancied she could see shadowy things lurking behind the man at the door. It was creepy.

She didn't say anything.

"Listen my sweet," he said, and Kitty flinched, "I'll tell you what happened. What is happening, and what is going to happen, as well. I suppose you deserve to know!" He sounded like he was mocking her and she glowered at him.

"I don't like mutants," he began. "I really, really don't. I started experimenting on their genes originally looking for a way to kill them."

Kitty was disliking this guy more and more.

"Then I discovered the drug, which you, and your friend Mr Allerdyce, both came to try and obtain. I never had the intention of giving it to either of you."

Kitty glared at him, but in the lack of light he didn't notice.

"I invited you both here because I needed someone to test my drug out on. It's highly experimental, but I'm proud to say it does seem to be working.

"You see, there are variants of my creation. I am able to make it advance what you call the 'X-gene' and therefore bring out from dormancy, or increase, one's mutant abilities. It is very useful, and I have even been able to specify exactly what those abilities will be in some of my test subjects."

Kitty eyed the shadows behind Dr Killenstein and wondered exactly what those subjects were, and had become.

"But the drug's variant I used on you, my dear, and your considerably less intelligent friend, was designed to subdue the gene. I'm sure you'll have noticed it was more difficult to turn intangible last time you tried, am I correct?"

Kitty averted his gaze and looked pointedly at the floor, but didn't answer.

"So yes. It is completely undetectable but still effective when diluted. This is why it is applied through H²0."

Kitty felt like she was going to cry. It was all so obvious now!

"What have I got to do with any of this? Why have I been attacked? And pushed out of a window?" she accused bravely.

"Let me explain," the doctor continued, "At first, you and your friend were only invited to act as test subjects – I hadn't had the chance to see if I could reduce the powers of mutants already developed yet. And then, I was planning to kill the both of you, as you were no longer of any need to me."

Kitty struggled to swallow the lump in her throat.

"At the time, my plan was to use my drug to breed an army of super mutants. You know Transylvania has some amazing creatures," he smiled devilishly, "and when coupled with an advanced mutant gene, well, you can imagine."

She could, but she tried not to.

"It would be easy, with an unequalled army, to whatever I pleased…" 

To anyone else, the man's plan to take over mankind might have seemed cliché and hideously unoriginal, but Kitty had come across more than one super villain bent on world domination. She wasn't very surprised.

"But then, I had a different idea. A much bigger, more fantastical vision! Wouldn't it just be easier, I said to myself, to sit back and let my drug do everything for me, without having to bother about commanding an army of thousands?"

There was a psychopathic glint in his eye.

"So you see my new plan, my pet, is to release the drug advancing the X-gene into the world's water supply! And then, once everyone has become a mutant, I shall release the drug which will destroy the X-gene, and if I can develop it to be strong enough, it will cause the death of… everyone."

Kitty looked at him like he was crazy, which he blatantly was.

"As for you," he looked her up and down hungrily. "Well, as you know, at first I was going to kill the both of you. When your friend saved you from falling, I was disappointed – but I'm now quite glad he did. You see, what with my new idea, wiping out the earth's population, mutant and human alike, I would be lonely with only the few super-creatures I have created thus far. And so, I decided I would keep you alive, and keep you as a companion."

Kitty blinked.

"Think about it," he stepped closer and she shrank back against the stone wall. "We could…we could repopulate the planet."

Kitty turned ruby red as she realised what he meant. 

"And that is why we will get married!" he declared, "Tomorrow! At dusk!"

She wanted to be sick! This guy had gone off the deep end, and she hoped that he would drown, or at least get mauled by some sea monster. She didn't fancy her chances of kicking his ass so much any more, if he spoke truthfully about his super-creature-mutant thingies. And she _had_ been attacked by something unnatural in the library.

"You will be my queen, and together we will rule my new, perfect world!" Then he burst into typical mad scientist evil laughter. And then he left, closing the door behind him.

Kitty whimpered. This was not good! She had no powers, no hope at all (except John – but an arsonist wasn't the most reliable person in the world!), and this guy was going to destroy all mankind and marry her too! What a sucky day.

*****

Will John get to Kitty in time?? Will Dr Killenstein succeed?? Will they get their powers back?? Will I ever cut Kitty some slack and let her have one chapter where something bad doesn't happen to her?? Tune in… well, now, because I'm updating with two chapters! Yay!


	11. Found at last

John had been searching, and searching, but it was hopeless and Kitty was nowhere to be found! It was also useless because every door was locked.

But then – he found one which wasn't! He was tired and frustrated already, but he had just kept on looking. And now, maybe, it had paid off.

He eased the door open a crack and stuck his head through. It was empty. That was good, in a way, but also bad because obviously Kitty wasn't in there.

What was in there though, was a table, littered with empty test tubes and weird glass tubes and bottles and papers. He glanced at them but they were completely illegible so he moved on. There was something that looked like a reclining chair, like you'd find in a dentist, but there was no material over it, it was just a metal skeleton. A candle hung over it, swinging slightly, even though there wasn't any breeze.

He explored the room briefly, but it wasn't very interesting. There was a stool holding a stack of books, which were all empty, and there was some kind of contraption in the corner but he had no idea what it was so he took no notice. 

He was about to leave when there was a scuffle behind him. He span around and scanned the room, but it seemed as empty as before – except the candle over the chair was going backwards and forwards much more now. He took a step backwards, still squinting suspiciously. 

He was about to turn around when there was a bump and a bang and he hit the floor. His instincts kicked in and he tried to get to his feet, but something was pinning him down – sitting on him? He also felt a cold, clammy hand grab the side of his head and press it firmly down against the ground, so that he couldn't see his captor.

He stared at the candle, which was just about visible from his uncomfortable position. He concentrated as hard as possible, but it only gave a little jump and then went out suddenly. Everything went dark.

He struggled against the person on top of him but to no avail. They were incredibly strong and heavy.

Then they took him by the ear and smashed his head as hard as possible against the stone floor. His eyes rolled and he thought he saw blood – but then they hit him again and he completely blacked out.

.:.

Kitty and John were both awoken by the sound of the door to Kitty's cell being opened. And then John was thrown to the floor and the door was abruptly shut again.

The two stared at each other blearily for a moment. He definitely was feeling lots and lots of pain in his head, and she suddenly realised that she was even colder than before.

Once John had gathered his head a few seconds later, he looked her up and down and grinned, despite the situation and that his mind kept telling him it was a bad idea. When had John been one to listen to his brain?

She looked at him weirdly, and then noticed with alarm that there was a very large gash in his forehead.

"John!" she squeaked. "You're bleeding!" She stumbled to her feet and hopped over to him and went to touch his head experimentally, but he grabbed her wrist before she could.

"Kitty, you're-"

"John, let me see it, it's pretty bad, do you have like a bandage or-"

"Kitty! You're-!"

"Stop interrupting! Oh my god, it could so easily get infected-"

"Kitty! You're not wearing any clothes!"

She stopped for a moment, looking at his face with utter incomprehension, then down at herself. It took a second or so before she shrieked and fell over backwards, trying helplessly to cover herself with her hands.

"Don't look! God!" she squealed, and he blinked. Then he blushed, grinned, and turned around.

"Give me your shirt," she commanded, and he hesitated before pulling it over his head. Before he had been wearing more layers, being as the castle was a very cold place, but after spending most of the day sitting in front of the fire he had worked up a heat and now he stood there without anything. He handed it to her behind his back. She took it gratefully and pulled it over her head.

"You can look now," she sounded shy and very, very embarrassed.

He turned back around and gave her a once-over before she noticed. It didn't really compare to the vision of Kitty in all her naked glory, but it was still pretty enough. The shirt was obviously long on her but it still showed most of her legs. She shifted uncomfortably, then remembered his head injury and went over to him.

"What happened?"

"Oh, uhh…" he couldn't really remember anything. There had been that weird room – he had fallen – and then… nothing.

Kitty wasn't listening anyway, she had reached down and torn a long strip of material off of his shirt, making it that much shorter. She reached up and wrapped it around a corner of his head a bit like a bandanna, so that it covered the eye that was directly under the wound and made him look like a pirate. She stepped back and admired her work, giggling a bit too.

"So… where are we?" John shifted his weight from one foot to the other uneasily as he looked around.

Kitty sat down in the corner. "I figure it's like, somewhere in the dungeons." Now that there was a bit more moonlight streaming in through the high, narrow window, the room looked even smaller than it had felt when Kitty had explored with her hands. John came and sat next to her.

"So… we're gonna die, right?"

Kitty suddenly remembered all of what Dr Killenstein had told her earlier, and she started to cry all over again. John was taken aback, but then supposed that predicting her death had something to do with it, which was fairly understandable. She leant against him and he put his arms around her.

"Dr Killenstein came to see me earlier…" she whimpered into his neck, "and… and he was all 'I'm gonna kill the world and…'"

John was confused, and just patted her back uncertainly.

"You see," she tried to explain, "he's going to put his drug into the world's water supply and make everyone mutants, then make them not mutants, and then kill everyone…"

John looked anxiously down at the top of her head.

"…including you… but not me!" She wailed again and he wondered why she would be upset that she _wasn't_ going to die.

"Then…" he started, but was cut off.
    
    "He's going to force me to marry him!" she sobbed. He froze. "So… so we can repopulate the planet!" He flinched.

"We have to get out of here… and save the world!" he cried.

She stopped and looked up at him doubtfully. "We don't have our powers and we're locked in here and…"

"Well, we have brains and… well, you have brains. And I have strength."

She nodded. Kitty was never one to just give up! It was so pathetic. So she stood shakily to her feet and wiped away a tear. "So, how will we escape?"

John looked around the room. Then he shrugged. "Like I said, you have the brains."

She looked around. There was that trapdoor up there – but that was just not an option, it was far too high and the walls were completely un-climbable. The door was not going to be broken down any time soon. But there was –

*****

What was there…?! Find out… next time I update! It's pretty obvious really.


	12. EsCaPe!

"Do you think you could give me a leg-up to that window?" she asked thoughtfully, looking up at the tiny hole above.

He followed her gaze. "Um… maybe."

"Okay… here we go." She gripped onto his shoulders and raised her right foot. He cupped his hands underneath them.

"One, two, three…" and with one surging motion he lifted her up. She let go of his shoulders and he held her over his head – it was a very precarious position but years of dance and gymnastics lessons and Kitty was perfectly balanced. She was aware that he had a very good view up the shirt she was wearing, and there was nothing underneath, but she deliberately ignored that train of thought.

He lifted her a bit higher and she was able to get a hold on the window ledge. She didn't have a particularly great deal of upper body strength, but he pushed her hard enough and she managed to get her arms and head through the window.

Her head immediately started spinning. There was just nothing in front of her – except darkness and of course, the notorious valley beneath the castle. She swallowed, and looked up, to an ebony sky filled with bright stars and one ridiculously enormous full moon. If she hadn't been suffering from vertigo so much, she would have appreciated the sight. It was the first time since she had arrived in the country that there wasn't thunder, or rain, or at least clouds.

"Um, John?" she called back into the room. John was standing there, taking in the weird view of Kitty's bottom half hanging out the gap in the wall.

"Mmm?"

"There's… nothing here. What now?"

He blinked. "This is your plan, Sheila."

"Oh, right." She looked up, and in the pale light she could see the wall above her. There was no gargoyle or anything like that she could use as a grip. She looked down – nothing. They were clearly in the dungeons after all, for beneath their floor the castle ended and there was just the bare cliff face.

She looked to the side – there was a window! It was a few metres away… if only they had some kind of rope.

"John?"

"Wha?"

  
"Do you have anything like rope, or… anything?"

He looked around blankly. "You could use my bandage thing-"

"No, no, you need that," she called. "And it's not long enough. I'll tear another bit off your shirt, if you don't mind."

He shrugged, and heard the sound of ripping fabric.

Unable to get her arms back through the window, Kitty had torn a strip from the front instead of the hem, starting from the collar and winding down the front. Now her shirt, or rather, John's, was considerably lower cut, and a broad line from her neck to her belly-button was gone too. She sensed just how revealing it was, but that was definitely not important next to the current crisis.

Kitty hated to think how she had come to be completely nude. She tried not to wonder who had undressed her or when. And then John had seen her! It had been so humiliating. But she tried to concentrate. 

She took the end of the long piece of material and tied it in a loop. Then, in lasso-style, she threw it toward the window to the right of her, using her best imaginable aim. It was especially hard due to the fact she was half hanging out of a window, and it took five attempts, but finally she got it through, somehow. And then it took another eleven attempts to get it actually hooked around something. Then at last, it was secure. She tied the end she was holding to the window ledge.

"John?"

"Yes?"

"I've got it… I think… you need to somehow get up here."

"Er." He paused and wondered how the hell he was going to do this. "Okay, stay there a second…"

He stood right underneath her, and jumped as high as possible. He managed to grab her leg, and was now hanging there in mid-air, while Kitty was straining against his weight.

"Okay…" he pulled himself up so that he was clinging on around her waist.

"Okay?"

"Okay!"

"I'm gonna try and get across there now…" and feeling very, very scared, she squeezed through the window. Very quickly, before she fell, she grabbed onto the line between the windows. As she had gone through John had grabbed onto the ledge and was now attempting to manoeuvre his way through the window too.

It was a struggle, but with perseverance Kitty was able to climb her way across to the other window, and then squeeze through. She landed on the floor with a tremendous sigh of relief. She saw that the lasso was looped around the top of one of many metal spokes, which lined the walls. By the light of a few candles, it was pretty clear that this room was some sort of torture chamber. 

She rushed back to the window and saw how John was doing. He had finally managed to crawl through the window and was hanging onto the piece of shirt with his hands, slowly creeping along – 

When he reached the window, Kitty pulled him through and they both collapsed on the floor.

"How did we ever manage that?!" she gasped.

He tried to reply but then only started to pant again.

They lay there for a moment, still recovering from their little escapade, but then were unpleasantly brought back to the present when the walls began to move.

"Kitty?" John said slowly, as they stared, aghast, at the spiked walls which were now closing in on them.

"Yes?" she trembled.

"I think we should leave."

There was a great deal of hustle and bustle as they fell over each other in an attempt to get to the door.

"It's locked!" Kitty squeaked in fear.

"Not on my shift!" John yelled, and rammed his shoulder at the door, which, thankfully, was only made of wood.

They tumbled through and John landed on his side, with Kitty sitting on top of him.

"Well… that was close," John said.

*****

That was probably not the best chapter but necessary to get the story moving along, I feel. So yes!


	13. Possession

I know, I used to be the queen of updating regularly, but now I'm nothing but a lowly chambermaid. It's really because I got A HORSE(!!!) for my birthday so I've been spending most of my time with him. Whoop. Anyway, here we go, at last.

Lucas'sgirl – Who'd have though of John as a gentleman?

Freakish Muffin – I really have no idea what you're talking about, but that's because I have no recollection of what happened in the last chapter… hmm, I better go read it. Oh and, I guess it was Dr K's uber-vampire/werewolf-warriors that captured and were attacking our hero and heroine… I dunno. That makes most sense!

Valley-Gurl101 – yeah, John and Kitty are the cutest, but Dr K is just… *shudders* And shame on you for reviewing in class! Tsk!

Just me-the cool girl – this was just the best review ever!

Freakish Muffin (again) – I am wondering too… you see I just make this up as I go along!

On with the show, ladies and germs.

*****

Kitty and John had absolutely no idea where they were going, but they knew the needed to get there fast. They came to a flight of stairs – and had the choice to either go up or down. John started to go up.

"John! What are you doing?"

"Uhh…" he gestured uncertainly to the staircase. 

"Haven't you ever seen a slasher movie? You're supposed to go _down_, not up."

"But - … we're in the dungeons."

"Oh, er, right."

They carried on going up and up, until Kitty was completely certain that they had gone too far.

"I think we should start going down now," she told John. "I mean, we must have been up a billion stairs, we're probably in some tower or something! We need to find the front door and get out of here!"

"I think it's right through – here!" he declared dramatically, and flung open a door. They went through, into the darkness – and the door slammed shut behind them. Kitty jumped.

After some fruitless attempts at forcing it open again, they gave up, and John reached for the spare lighter he kept in his sock. They found some candles, and finally had light.

"Nice going John," Kitty said bitterly. They were in a bedroom. Apparently, it had once been very grand, judging by the four poster bed and velvet and huge fireplace. It was quite like theirs. But now it was all covered with a thick layer of dust, and neither of them could imagine the last time it had been used.

She sat down heavily on the bed, then crawled over to the end of it, examining the large box at the end. "John, what do you suppose this is?"

He shrugged. "Looks like a coffin."

Kitty hated the idea, so she scowled at him. "Don't be stupid." But it definitely did… She attempted to open it.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"Well, nobody would keep a dead body in their room you know. I'm just having a look."

He watched uneasily as she finally managed to get her nails underneath the lid. It hadn't been nailed down. There was no way it could be a casket! That was just silly.

When she pushed the top back, and swatted away the cloud of dust that had formed, it looked like it was just an empty box, lined with dark reddish purple material. And then something very strange happened.

John stepped back, very alarmed, as the bed began to shake. Kitty held on tightly, her eyes wide. "What!"

"Kitty?"

"John!!"

He went forward apprehensively, but then, as quickly as it had started, the vibrating stopped. Kitty sat there, looking a bit dazed and confused.

"Are you okay?"

She turned to look at him, and he knew something was very wrong. She grinned, and then there was something like a flash of light, or energy (?) and John found himself flung against the wall.

And then Kitty was floating there, above the bed, with her arms outstretched, the hem of his shirt billowing around her thighs. Her head was tilted back and her hair was spread out around her head as if she was lying down. Then she looked down at him, and her eyes were a pale yellow colour.

He remembered something like this vaguely, happening in a film, but didn't really process the thought. He inched backwards against the wall further. 

She smiled seductively and he smiled back uncertainly. "Hehe…"

She beckoned to him with one finger, but he didn't move. "Come here," and the voice that came out of her mouth most definitely did not belong to her. It was still a woman's voice, but lower in pitch and slow and heavy. 

"Come here!"

Slowly, he stood up, and took a step closer. When Kitty, or whoever it was, didn't move, he took another one. Once he was standing directly in front of her she lowered to the bed, her hair still defying gravity, and put her hands around his neck.

For a second he though she was going to strangle him, but instead she pulled him down to the bed with her. He knelt in front of her feeling rather like this wasn't right…

Another movie came to mind as she leant closer to him. Ghostbusters! It finally dawned on him, that perhaps, maybe, whatever had come out of the coffin had possessed Kitty. Duh! And if it had been there as long as it might have been, the spirit, demon, whatever, could be very lustful.

There was no 'maybe' about it, when Kitty – or the parasite inside her – kissed him forcefully, but slowly.

A part of him was overjoyed, but another part, the more logical part that was very, very rarely used, told him that this was _not_ Kitty and he was kissing some weird vampire or ghost woman. That wasn't an attractive though, and he tried to push her away.

Ghost-Kitty, or whoever, was not pleased. She pushed him back against the pillows, and straddled his stomach. Then, strangely enough, she started to lick him, all over his face and all over his bare chest too. It was the weirdest sensation he had ever experienced.

"Kitty?" he asked hopefully.

"There is no Kitty!" said Kitty.

"But you're Kitty."

"I am not Kitty!" said Kitty.

"Who are you?"

"Not Kitty!"

"Well, yeah, but…"

His voice was silenced when she kissed him again, and then she started to nibble on his lower lip. At first, despite himself, he was quite enjoying it, but then she started to chew, and then bite him fiercely. When he tasted blood he decided that, ancient demon or no, Kitty had to be stopped.

He heaved her off of him, and she was incredibly heavy compared to last time he had picked her up. She tried to pounce on him again, but he rolled out from underneath her and she landed on the bed angrily. 

"Kitty! I want to talk to Kitty!" he backed away on his hands and knees, trying to remember what they had done in the movies. But he wasn't a priest, or a ghostbuster, so he really had no clue.

"There is no Kitty!" she said again, and proceeded to chase him around the room. It really wasn't fair that she had the advantage that she could fly, as well as move furniture telekinetically now, so she caught up with him pretty fast. Once again he found himself forced underneath her, and she was kissing him again, when the door flew open.

.:.

It was the last person he wanted to see, but under the circumstances, John was relieved. Dr Killenstein was there, along with Igor, and he looked very angry. Possibly at the sight of his fiancé kissing another guy, when they were both supposed to be in prison right now.

The possessed Kitty looked horrified, and scrambled off of John to cower in the corner. He approached her and towered over her, while John sat there staring. The doctor took out a vile of water – probably holy water, doi – and opened it. The Kitty-creature howled and held up her arms against it in fright. Unfortunately, John was knocked out by Igor before he saw what happened.

*****

I thought I was due for some fluff (at least, kissing) even if it was between John and some devil woman.


	14. Here we go!

When Kitty woke up, her head was throbbing. She remembered opening a chest thing – and then, everything was a blank. How had she ended up in this room??

It looked disturbingly like a bridal suite, and she realised with a tremble that of course, it was. It was similar to her and John's room, but it was surprisingly clean and much larger.

Something felt different – she looked down at herself, and saw with a heavy heart that someone had, once again, changed her clothes without permission. It was most probably Igor, which was just an awful though. At least she _was_ wearing something now, but it was by no means what she would have liked.

She was wearing a wedding dress, and by the look and feel of it was very old and unused. The white, itchy material had faded to yellow, and there were a few frays and tears in strategically revealing places. There was a bouquet of dead flowers on the floor. 

When she tried to stand up, from where she had been sprawled on the bed, she discovered that she was corseted ridiculously tightly and could barely breathe. Staggering forward, she tried to undo the back of the dress' bodice, to loosen it, but it was no use. The only option was to stay as still as possible, or else she would likely faint. But that was no good, because then she would never escape! John was, yet again, her only hope.

John! What had happened to him? She hoped against hope that he was okay.

.:.

He was definitely not okay. But at least he was alive – barely. When he woke up he was greeted with tremendous pain, and squinted down through the dark to spot a pool of blood that was gradually spreading over his bare torso.

"Crap," he thought moodily. He tried to sit up but found that his arms, and ankles too, were bound with rope shackles to the cold floor he was lying on.

He was pretty sure that he was going to die now. He seemed to be slipping into and back out of consciousness. But he couldn't give up hope! He had to rescue Kitty, and they had to escape. He wondered grimly what time it was, and if Kitty was married yet. That would just be the icing on the cake.

He summoned all the strength he could, and strained against the ropes that tied him down. After a few minutes of painful struggling, they finally split and he sat up, rubbing his raw skin and ignoring the dizziness in his head.

He knew he needed to stem the blood flow, but then again he had no medical knowledge whatsoever and he didn't even have a shirt. Someone had removed the piece of material Kitty had tied over the wound on his face, so he couldn't use that either, and he had the unpleasant feeling that that had started to bleed again too. The ropes were dirty and wouldn't be of any help anyway. He would just have to suck it up and find Kitty – hopefully she would know what to do. But first, he needed to get out of this cell! There wasn't a window, but…

The door opened, and Igor poked his head through. Evidently he had come to check if John was dead yet, and he was extremely surprised when he saw that the prisoner wasn't even tied down any more. With a not-particularly-well-done kick to the head (John had always relied on his fire to do his fighting), the little hunchback fell to the ground.

Swiping his lantern, John exited swiftly through the door.

.:.

Kitty had been lying there for at least an hour now, staring at the ceiling and praying that John would arrive soon. No such luck though, and when the door finally opened, it was definitely NOT John. In fact, Kitty had no idea who or what, it was, and she didn't want to find out. The person was very tall, and lean, a bit like Dr Killenstein himself. They were wrapped in a dark cloak, all around, so she couldn't see anything of their faces except for a pair of sinister, red eyes gleaming at her. She stared in fear as the figure took a step towards her.

"Time to go, Mistress," he said, in a quiet, hissing voice. She was rigid.

The person extended a hand, with was white and clawed. She stared at it, and then, slowly, took it in her own gloved one.

The person (but she was beginning to severely doubt that 'he' was one at all) pulled her up with terrifying strength, and when she swayed due to the incredible tightness of her corset, he picked her up and handed her her ugly bouquet. Still quivering with fright at this very, very scary figure, she was carried to her wedding ceremony.

*****

If you're wondering why they didn't kill John, it's because… erm… they wanted him to die slowly from his wound and didn't count on his steroids kicking in? 


	15. Jilted, fool!

John had been searching for a long while now, but every door he tried was either, in most cases locked, or led to some empty, dark room. He was feeling especially woozy, and could hardly walk, let alone run and climb stairs. He couldn't even think.

.:.

Kitty was carried to the dining room, at a bizarre speed, and her befuddled mind had the vague idea that she might have been flying.

The cavernous room had been cleared, and the gigantic table and chairs had been stacked along each wall. There was a long red carpet leading up to the front of the room, and at either side of it stood dark, uninviting people. Some were just like the man (?) who had brought Kitty here, and others were more hunched, muscular and animal-like, though she couldn't see any of their faces. They were all wearing the shadowy black robes.

At the end of the carpet, which Kitty was now being walked sedately down (though she could still hardly breathe), accompanied by the mysterious man, was Dr Killenstein. He wasn't wearing his lab coat now, but a crusty old black top hat and tails, and he had a silver cane topped with a wolf's head. He looked something like a voodoo god Kitty had a hazy recollection of, possibly from a James Bond film. 

He watched her closely as she approached, glad for the veil hanging over her face, so that they couldn't see how scared she was and how red she suspected her face was turning. Even if she hadn't been binded so tight, she doubted she could take out all the creepy people who were following her with their red glowing eyes.

She stopped in front of him, trying not to tremble, and her companion withdrew into the line. There was a moment's silence.

"Where is Igor?" Dr Killenstein suddenly barked, surprising Kitty. "He is supposed to perform the ceremony. Forgive me, my dear."

Kitty didn't say anything, or move. She was too busy trying to stay upright. 

She did turn, however, when the door was thrown open.

"Ig-" the doctor began, expecting his minion, but instead John was stood there.

Kitty gasped, which was very painful.

In one collective movement, all the weird soldier people assembled, streamed toward the door to attack. For a millisecond John stood there, confused and stricken, before he reacted and dived out of the way. It hurt immensely, but it didn't compare to the relief of seeing Kitty – apparently no longer possessed and also still single. He couldn't see her face, she was wearing a veil, but he guessed she was very relieved and shocked too.

The things were lunging for him again. Hardly able to collect his thoughts in time, he grabbed a chair that was stacked to his right and swung it at the first monster that came close enough. The leg snagged on the hood of the cloak, and pulled it down, revealing one hideous face.

It was a marvel that Kitty hadn't fainted yet, and even more miraculous that she didn't now. The creature was one of the heavier, less humanoid ones, and it was clear from its face that it was some sort of werewolf creature. It had a round, bald head, topped with small, pointed ears. Its muzzle was squashed and oddly shaped, it had whiskers, and small, beady eyes, which were bright red. Opening its mouth, which was just like a man's but filled with small sharp teeth, it howled and grabbed for its hood.

The rest of them were all apparently a bit surprised, for they hesitated before attacking again. This gave John the chance to stumble up and run as fast as his weary legs could carry him over to Kitty.

Dr Killenstein looked on in outrage as his bride grabbed onto John and smothered her face in his neck. He gave her a brief hug, but then the monsters were getting closer so the both of them began to run.

"Go after them!" Dr Killenstein commanded his soldiers, "Bring them to me – the girl is not to be harmed." And then something seemed to dawn on him. "And neither is the boy." They obeyed and gave chase.

Being as they were an army of super mutant vampires and werewolves and whatnot, it was really no competition between them and a couple of kids, one of whom was injured and the other wearing terribly impractical clothes. John and Kitty were soon caught, whereupon they were knocked out, yet again.

*****

Short chapter there, but what with this incredibly HUGE update, that hardly matters. Everything seems to be happening very fast all of a sudden – I suppose the first chapters were all about building suspense, though they didn't really do that…


	16. Yet more problemsII

It was the third time, in what seemed like a _very_ long time, though in reality it had only been a few days, that John and Kitty woke up in a dark cell, feeling woozy. There was something different about this time though.

For one thing, they were stretched out on wooden tables, John directly beneath Kitty – that is, his hands were right next to her feet. Their limbs were stretched out, but this time instead of rope were secured with blocks of wood nailed together to form a box around their wrists and ankles.

But there was something even more weird. They just… didn't feel right.

"John?" said Kitty, from her position above him not able to see that he was there. To her alarm though, the voice that came out was not her own. It was – 

"Kitty?" And that was – 

They both lay there a moment in silence, fully absorbing what had happened to them. Kitty felt significantly stronger, more powerful, and John was aware that he was wearing a wedding dress. His breathing was very restricted.

"I don't like the look of this," Kitty said, but didn't say anything else, because it was too weird to hear John's voice speaking her words.

"Me neither," John winced.

There was a minute's silence. "We need to escape," Kitty said.

"Tell me about it," said John, "This underwear chafes."

Kitty rolled… John's eyes, and struggled against the wooden clamps. It was no use, even with her newfound muscle they were too heavy.

"Wait!" John cried, and Kitty wondered if she really did sound like that… "I have a lighter in my… your… my shoe."

"Huh?"

"Hold on." John squirmed his hands – or Kitty's hands – and it was strange how small and delicate they seemed, and how soft they felt as they fumbled together. He stretched her little arms until her nimble fingers found their way into Kitty's – his – shoe. Kitty giggled as she felt him tickle his own foot accidentally. At least there was sufficient light, so it didn't actually take much time.

"Eureka!" John pulled out the lighter and went to flick it.

  
"What are you going to try and do?!" Kitty squeaked, and it sounded very peculiar coming from John.

John finally got it open and held it to the wooden handcuff.

"John! No!" Kitty pleaded as she heard the flame crackle to life. She had the horrible feeling he was going to –

The wood started to burn, slowly at first, but then it roared into life. The heat was unbelievably painful against his – her – skin, and he felt, at the back of his mind, slightly bad for having singed Kitty's lovely body.

Being as the table was wooden also, the fire was starting to grow out of control. John quickly freed himself, and then helped Kitty to escape. It was very odd watching himself jump free of the flames, and look for all the world like a little schoolgirl in a man's body – which of course he/she was. 

It was also _very_ odd for Kitty, in John's body, to cower against John in Kitty's much smaller body, as if Kitty were still a girl. Just thinking about it was complicated! 

"How do you breathe in this thing?" John wheezed against the awful corset.

"Hard, isn't it?" Kitty replied, feeling pleasantly free – she didn't even need a bra now!

"It figures that this finally happens – and I don't have a shower," said John, looking down appreciatively at his new body. Kitty elbowed him. He found that it was particularly painful, and vowed that once he was back in his own body, he wouldn't elbow _anybody_.

Speaking of which – "How do we get back to normal?" Kitty asked desperately, holding out her new arms and looking at them with disbelief. 

John shrugged Kitty's small shoulders. "I guess we better start looking for a way out of here. How did Dr Killenstein do this?"

"I guess he switched our brains," Kitty answered glumly. "Cliché, don't you think?" She smiled wryly.

Meanwhile, John had tried the door, which, strangely enough, was unlocked. These super villains never learn, do they?

*****

Okay, that was really confusing to write. And, once again, seeing as this is a big update, it was a short chapter. 


	17. Figured out

The first thing they did once it occurred to them to do it, was to fix up Kitty's injury – or rather, John's, seeing as it was his body. This was done by tearing strands of fabric off of the wedding dress John was wearing, and wrapping it around Kitty/John's chest, and also replacing the bit on his head which had been removed. Kitty said it was bizarre that John hadn't died yet! And John took the opportunity of tearing his dress to thoroughly examine Kitty's shapely legs, which earned him another slap. They also spent a minute tearing the bodice of the wedding dress, which left it terrible revealing but at least John could breathe.

The next thing they did was the ever tiresome exploring, searching for something, anything, that would help them in any way.

Two hours later, and they found what they had been looking for – though they hadn't actually known at the time.

What they found was an open door leading to a laboratory. It was the very same one that John had encountered previously, where he had been first attacked, with the same table and strange skeletal dentist's chair. This time, however, there were far more viles and tubes and bottles and instruments, and also books spread open on the floor and surfaces. 

"Check this out," said Kitty, who had actually been bothered to explore properly. She had found one of the books, open at a page which had a diagram of two people hooked up to a machine thing, and two brains.

"It's written in Latin or something, but I'm guessing this is what happened to us!"

John peered uneasily at the picture. That was just an unpleasant thought, that they had been fixed to that weird contraption.

"Ohmygod!" Kitty cried, and he turned to where she had wandered over to look at the various bottles of fluids. 

She was holding up a small flask filled with florescent blue liquid. It looked slightly toxic.

"What about it?"

"It has some words on it… I don't know how to pronounce it… it was in the book. Do you think it might be, like, the antidote?"

John looked at her doubtfully.

"I know, it's a huge risk but… how many choices do we have?"

He looked a bit disappointed at the prospect of having to drink that stuff. "Okay, I'll go first."

"And ruin my body?" she held the flask away from him as he went to grab it. "I don't think so."  
  
"At least you won't have to taste it."

She looked at the stuff ponderously, then passed it to John sadly. 

Hesitantly, he took out the cork and held the thing to his – her - lips. He took a small sip, then shuddered. He passed it to her.

"Well, it's not poison, hopefully…"

Then she took a drink. They stood there, watching each other.

.:._five minutes later_.:.

"Somehow, I don't think this is working," said Kitty. There had been no change in either of them whatsoever. Or at least, they hadn't felt anything.

"Maybe we need to take more," John suggested, and reached for the flask – and his fingers went straight through it.

Kitty gasped. "Ohmygod! You have my powers!"

John was staring at his – her – fingers uncomfortably. "That was the worst feeling ever."

"You'll get used to it," she said airily, "That stuff must be the antidote to the drug! We have our powers!"

"Each other's," he corrected absently.

"But, I mean, like we can easily escape now."

"Still in each other's bodies?" he started to feel the shape of Kitty's body, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I really like yours but…"

She punched him lightly on the arm, not wanting to bruise her own flesh. "There must be some way to get turned back, and well, now we don't have to worry about being caught or anything. Phasing is easy – you have to concentrate _not_ to phase."

John tried to let his mind wander, in the hopes that he would turn intangible, but he just couldn't make himself. Sub-consciously, he was still trying to remain as solid as possible.

"Don't worry, you'll get it eventually," she told him kindly. "Okay, I think I might be able to translate a bit of this book, you… explore, and stuff."

So Kitty sat down with the book and began to read. Her Latin was extremely limited but she knew a couple of words and she might just be able to figure out the rest. Meanwhile, John searched the rest of the room thoroughly, and pointlessly.

.:.

It was another hour or so later, and incredibly nobody had even tried to find them yet, when Kitty reckoned she had figured out the remedy to their predicament.

"It's a risk," she told John, while biting her/his lip, "but I guess we have to take it!"

John did as she instructed, and sat down in the terribly awkward, creepy chair in the middle of the room. Protruding pieces of metal prodded and poked him, but he stayed quiet. 

"Okay, well, it's not the machine in the picture, but I think we can make it work…" Kitty reached up and began to fiddle with the candle over John's head. He couldn't see what she was doing, but when she drew back the flame was now glowing slightly blue. 

Kitty concentrated, and using her new pyro-kinetic powers, she made the flame grow larger. It took some time, because she was so inexperienced at it, but soon John had to shut his eyes against the brightness. He was started to sweat.

He felt Kitty climb over him, and she carefully positioned their heads together, side by side, facing opposite directions. He would have liked the idea of her being on top of him, had she not been in _his_ body!

The candle was boiling the both of them now, and the flames were almost touching them…

Then there was a rush, and sudden darkness. Kitty thought it was like plunging on a roller coaster. She opened her eyes.

Then she saw John's face, peering at her, and felt completely relieved. She exhaled, and he grinned.

"I've missed the view," he said. She blushed and pushed him off of her, climbing off the horrible chair.

"Now, I say we get out of here," he said, also dismounting.

"But what about Dr Killenstein's plan? Shouldn't we do something?"

"The best thing we can do is get Magneto's help."

"Professor Xavier's," she said, and he didn't bother arguing. "But I guess you're right. Come on, let's get out of here!"

*****

Well, I'm entirely glad that's over, the whole him in her body, her in his thing was very confusing!


	18. The chase, the fight, and the beautiful,...

Kitty phased them, feeling absolutely wonderful at having her powers back, through the door, silently. They were just walking down the corridor, when – 

"There they are!" yelled a familiar voice, and they turned to see Igor (which a bandage around his head). And behind him was a dozen or so of the creatures.

John was momentarily fastened to the floor, but then he felt Kitty grab his hand, and there was the queer sensation of being phased through the floor. It made his stomach turn. But they were out of harm's way, for now.

It seemed that on every floor, at every turn, there was another of the monsters waiting for them. Evidently Dr Killenstein had been expanding his army at a very rapid rate. Kitty kept the both of them phased, and they made short cuts through walls and floors. It didn't help at all that they didn't know where they were going. 

At one point, Kitty had the sense to phase her head through the wall, and looked down to see just where in the castle they were. Thankfully, the front door was directly below them! Various soldier-things were lunging at them, and then flying through. The humanoid ones, which Kitty was started to suspect were vampires, seemed to be a bit more intelligent that the werewolves and had stopped trying to attack physically. Kitty didn't doubt that they had some kind of physic power though, and so she didn't waste any time.

John felt his insides churn again as Kitty pulled him through the wall. His head went light as he realised that they were now floating in mid-air, about four floors up from the ground. He held onto Kitty's hand tighter, as she gently but quickly took them down. She moved as if descending stairs, while he was dragged behind. They alighted on the mountaintop, and took a moment to relish the cool (and very cold) fresh air, before the door flew open behind them.

It seemed that the entire army was chasing them now, as stream after stream of hideous creatures, all wearing the black robes, started to bound after them. Some of them were moving through the air, others running on two legs or all fours. They were very fast.

Kitty and John ran as quick as they possibly could, still tired and feeling a bit queasy from their recent experiments, and soon they were in the forest below.

Here there wasn't even any starlight to show them the way. They stumbled backwards and forwards, and heard as the ghostly army entered the trees not far behind. Kitty couldn't even see to phase them through any brambles on the floor. She felt weak from all the phasing and running. 

"Wait, I have an idea!" she heard John say, and he let go of her hand. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, and she couldn't even see beyond the end of her nose.

Then there was a flash of light, and she saw John's face, not too far away, illuminated by a ball of fire in the palm of his hand. Amazingly fast, the flames grew and grew till the nearest few trees were caught alight. Kitty clutched John's arm nervously. Fire wasn't her favourite thing, generally. 

  
By the light, they saw the first few soldiers through the trees, moving like black ripples against the shadows. They seemed a bit scared and confused, from the way they were circling and hissing. 

John carefully brought the flames in a circle around the two of them, every so often lashing out streaks as particularly brave creatures tried to get closer.

"Careful John, this is woodland," Kitty murmured uncertainly. She thought she saw him grin.

.:.

Five minutes later, all the monsters had been warded off. They guessed they had retreated to the castle, so just to be sure they wouldn't try to mess with them again, they retraced their steps and set fire to the building. It was mostly made of stone, but sending the flames climbing through the windows and doors would probably sort out the 'evil within.'

Kitty and John were now trekking through the forest. John had extinguished the fire, even though he had been a bit disappointed by having to. 

Kitty was still slightly paranoid, walking through the dreadfully silent, dark forest. John however, was clearly happy now that he had his fabulous powers back. They just made him _him_. 

It was approaching dawn when the last scary thing happened to them, *and thank god it was the last!* Kitty thought afterwards. They had been making their winding way in and out of trees and clearings and thickets for a few hours, and were weary. They sat down to rest for a minute.

And then, all of a sudden, and completely unexpectedly, a creature leapt out of the darkness. It was one of the werewolf variety, and it was apparently a rogue soldier. Its uniform was torn and its huge clawed paws clearly visible.

In her fright, Kitty phased into the ground, up to her waist. Here she hovered, watching as John, barely hesitating a moment, whipped out his lighter and sent a whip of flame after the animal.

It was a horrific sight, the burning ghoul screaming and cavorting about, but John soon expertly sent it back into the trees.

Kitty, who was seriously freaked out by this point, leapt out of the floor and went to his side quickly.

He put his arms around her waist, and she put hers round his neck; she was very nervous and insecure now. She buried her face in his chest. Again, she pondered how weird it was that she should feel so safe with him, when he was blatantly not, in any sense of the word, safe.

He rested his chin on the top of her head. He knew he wanted to do something, but he didn't know how. He wasn't exactly the romantic sort of guy. So, doing it was fast as possible before he convinced himself it was a bad idea, he kissed her forehead instead of where he wanted to. He was acutely aware of his own bare skin against hers where the dress was torn.

She froze, but didn't resist or say anything, so he grew a bit more confident. He was definitely not the shy sort of guy, but when it came to girls, it was a different story altogether. He had never been in a relationship before. Girls always found him a bit mad and freaky.

He kissed her again, this time in between her eyebrows.

She lifted her head a fraction, and he bowed his, and kissed the bridge of her nose. Then he kissed the tip.

They both knew where this was going, and were a little frightened, but excited too.

There was a second or two of hesitation, where they stared into each other's blue eyes, quietly wondering who was going to make the next move. It turned out that they both did, and the tiny space between them closed.

It was very different to kissing the possessed Kitty, John decided. Her lips were now deliciously soft and gentle, and neither of them knew what they were doing so it was okay. They could learn together. He tightened his hold on her, and they both thought vaguely that despite all the terrifying things that had happened the past week, it had turned out pretty good in the end.

*****

Aww, that's the end! I know a lot happened in this chapter, and I was sort of hoping to spread it between two, but oh well. I'm thinking of writing a sequel, loosely based on Rocky Horror, where Dr Killenstein's brother/cousin or something (Frankenstein?) tries to get his revenge!!! That's a bit cliché, maybe the Legend of Sleepy Hollow? What do you think? Please review!


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